Countrymen and women will have already guessed that any likelihood of a badger cull this year to help reduce the incidence of bovine TB had almost disappeared. Two factors – the lifecycle of the badger and the need to leave time for legal challenges to any cull to be dealt with – mean that even if an announcement comes next month as promised it will be summer 2012 before any badger control measures are put in place.

That means another heart-breaking year of suffering for farmers whose cattle are threatened by TB and another year in which the reservoir of this disease in wild animals will be able to continue to spread. But Farming Minister Jim Paice, attending the opening day of the Royal Cornwall Show yesterday, was correct when he told farmers: "We are having to make absolutely sure we get it right. We only have this one opportunity." It now looks likely that after all the delays next month's announcement will be to call for a cull. We can then expect the legal challenges and the loud protests. Arguments in favour of a cull must be marshalled because, in the end, this action must prove its worth before it can begin.